Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK

KELOWNA - Do you lock your car? According to Kelowna RCMP between 60 to 70 per cent of vehicles broken into in 2016 were left unlocked.

Thefts from vehicles are up 26 per cent from 2015, according to a report presented at today's, May 29, Kelowna city council.

According to the RCMP report from Supt. Brent Mundle, approximately 60 to 70 per cent of vehicles broken into between 2015 and 2016 were left unlocked.

"Simply you need to start locking up and securing your bikes and vehicles," Mundle said. "A significant amount of theft in vehicles is from not locking them."

When asked what they thought about the latest statistic, Kelowna residents said that vehicle break-ins can be easily prevented.

"I lock my door even when I'm at my house, and I live on a dead end street," Basia Zurek said. "So I think it's just common sense to lock it because you never know."

Bicycle theft took a huge jump in the city last year, up 43 per cent compared to 2015.

"It makes sense to me because there's a lot of different economic brackets in Kelowna, so with bicycle thefts - and I've had my bike stolen - it really depends on how you lock it and where you leave it, so the same can be said with cars as well," Izabella Thompson said. "Whether it's a car or a bike, you should put a lock on, or you're pretty much asking for something to be stolen."

The quarterly report from RCMP also says the detachment continues to be a busy one with a 8.33 per cent increase in calls for service, which translates into officers responding to over 4,300 more calls in 2016 than the previous year.

However, looking at a graph in Mundle's report to council, Kelowna seems to land somewhere in the middle of the pack when it comes to thefts from vehicles compared to Kamloops, Vernon and Penticton.

Overall from 2015 to 2016 property crime increased by 9.5 per cent, and most of it was bicycle thefts and thefts from vehicles.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/RCMP

— This story was updated at 5:04 p.m. Monday, May 29, 2017 to add quotes from citizens.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jenna Hickman or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2017